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GUEST: Joe Stork, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch

A report released earlier this week urged Israel to end discriminatory housing practices against Bedouin people living in villages and townships. Compiled by Human Rights Watch, the 130 page study found that the minority Arab group living in the Southern Negev desert faced systemic housing demolitions and unfair land policies. Declaring many Bedouin villages illegal, the Israel Land Authority has demolished more than two hundred homes in 2007 alone. Human Rights Watch has also concluded that while homes in unrecognized villages are targeted for being built without permits, the state displays a willingness to construct new Negev homes for Jewish Israelis. Calling the practices unfair, the report demands that the state of Israel declare a moratorium on Bedouin housing demolitions immediately while creating an independent commission to investigate land and housing violations. The report touches on an issue with historical roots, as some Bedouin villages were founded before the creation of Israel in 1948, while others came into existence after land displacements by the new state. Overall, thousands of Bedouin homes have been demolished since the 1970’s.

For more information, visit www.hrw.org. Or download the report here: http://hrw.org/reports/2008/iopt0308/iopt0308webwcover.pdf